According to a report in The Times, Channel 4 is worried that it will struggle to make a profit in the digital age unless the government helps with the cost of migrating digital. At current rates, a channel slot on Freeview is worth up to £5m.
Duncan suggested that Channel 4 should have part of a seventh multiplex on Freeview, which it can use to launch new channels, instead of a cash lump sum that would be reinvested into public service programming.
Ha said: "We must be confident of a lifeline if the business model proves insufficient to deliver public service plurality in a much tougher environment down the line."
If the government agrees to Duncan's demands it will not be able to give the channel additional spectrum on Freeview until after digital switchover, which is earmarked to be completed by 2012.
Last year, when the BBC model of funding was called into question, Duncan touched on the £100m-a-year shortfall in the lead-up to digital switchover and requested the BBC licence fee be top-sliced so Channel 4 could carve out its future.
The news comes as BBC director general Mark Thompson said that the corporation needs a 2.3% rise in its licence fee in order to best meet public needs.
He was speaking to a House of Lords committe questioning Thompson and BBC chairman Michael Grade about BBC proposals that could result in the licence fee hitting as much as £180 by 2013.
Grade said demands of the digital switchover placed the BBC in "unprecedented circumstances".
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